Sintesis Gris
by Saber Girls
Summary: Aizen has lost the queen, but he has gained a rook, one for whom he has been waiting a long time: his Primero Espada, the creature that was once Kurosaki Ichigo. Ultimately IchiRuki, IshiHime, TatsuRen, with one sided AizenIchigo along the way. On hiatus
1. Prologue and Chapter One

_**Síntesis Gris**_

_by Saber Girl Jaina/Hyperion Rising_

**Prologue**

The first thing he was aware of was his master's hand stroking his hair. He knew it was his master even before he opened his eyes. The unique sensation of Aizen Sousuke's reitsu, along with his name and his status as master, were among the few things he knew upon becoming aware.

He opened his eyes for the first time and saw a long wide white hall stretching away from him. As his eyes started to focus he was able to differentiate the end of the knee on which his head rested.

Touch. Sight. Hearing? His master's hand made soft sounds as it moved through his hair. Smell? Clean, sweet. His master. Taste? Stale air in his mouth. He opened it and experimentally, almost involuntarily, made a sound.

"Un…"

---------

Aizen smiled.

"You're awake," he said.

"H- Hai, master," replied the form whose head was resting on his knee. The voice was hoarse from screaming, though its owner would probably attribute the quality of his speech to the newness of his body. And Aizen would, of course, allow him to do so.

The former taichou lifted the head from his laugh and turned the face towards his own. Wide, innocent brown eyes stared up at him, one through the boney plate of a half-mask.

"Master…" the boy said softly.

Aizen smiled down benevolently at the child and stood from his throne, pulling his new servant up with him. He kept a firm but gentle grip on the boy's wrist as he walked towards the door at the end of the hall.

Reaching the other end of the hall was not as easy as one might think. The brown-eyed child kept stumbling, falling to his knees. Walking was new for him. They reached the door eventually, and Aizen led his new servant into the corridor beyond and down it, then into a small room. He turned to his new servant and steadied the boy by his shoulders, withdrawing his hands only when he was sure the child would be able to stand on his own.

"Do you want to know who you are?" Aizen asked.

The boy nodded slightly, obviously afraid of unbalancing himself. "Please, master." Aizen smiled at him.

"You are the Primero Espada," he told the boy, "my strongest warrior. My other servants I made from Hollows, but you I created from nothing." The boy's eyes remained wide and childlike, soaking in all that Aizen said without compunction. "Your name is Síntesis Gris."

Aizen took his servant's shoulders in his hands again and slowly turned the boy around so that he was facing the mirror embedded in the wall next to the door. Slowly, haltingly, the boy walked towards it. Aizen let him.

--------------

Mirror. It was a mirror. It showed him what he looked like. He moved towards it, curious. He had never seen himself before.

He was human shaped, with lightly tanned skin on his arms and face, pale elsewhere. He was completely naked except for the red and white mask that covered half his face. His hair was short, spiky, a bright orange color. An Arabic numeral one was tattooed in perfect black on his chest next to the hole, perhaps six inches in diameter, that went through his body.

The thing that had once been Kurosaki Ichigo turned to its master and smiled.

**Chapter One: Capture and Conversion**

_12 Hours Earlier_

By the time he'd gotten through Ulquiorra and to Rukia Renji was already at her side, frantically trying to heal her with his pathetic kidou skills while Ishida and Chad stood guard. Pesshe Gatiishe and Dondo Chakka stood over Renji offering utterly useless advice.

Ichigo didn't have to say a word to Orihime. She said the words as soon as they stopped their frantic sprint:

"Souten Kisshun, I reject!"

Renji was thrown back as the healing field of Orihime's reistu formed over Rukia. It was almost comical. Ishida ran over to kneel beside Orhime.

"Orihime-san! Are you alright? Did they hurt you?"

"Nuh-uh," mumbled Orihime, still intent on Rukia.

"Um, was that 'no, I'm not alright' or 'no, they didn't hurt me?'"

Despite the severity of the situation, or perhaps because of it, Ichigo let out a hoarse laugh.

They'd found Orihime. She hadn't betrayed them. Rukia was going to be okay.

He stopped laughing immediately when he realized he was no longer the only one doing it.

There was total silence in the cavernous chamber shave for the soft crackling sound of Orihime's energy field and the low chuckle that seemed to surround them.

""Who- who is that?" asked Nell in a tremulous voice.

A figure, clad in white, emerged from the shadows.

Aizen Sousuke.

Ichigo jammed his eyes shut, but he knew it was no good. He'd already seen Kyouka Suigetsu's blade.

----------

One moment Orihime Inoue was concentrating all her power, her thoughts, her illogical guilt as to the situation into healing Kuchiki Rukia. The next she was surrounded by white.

Her first thought was "Am I dead?"

Her second was "Gee, Soul Society sure has changed."

Then she saw Aizen.

"Hello, Orihime-chan," he said, and she panicked. Panicked, and reached within herself for the power that let her defend herself, let her be more than a burden to Kurosaki-kun, and reacted instinctively.

"I REJECT!"

Aizen's eyes widened. He ran towards he, grabbing something-

The white faded to black.

----------

They hung suspended in a void, pitch black all around them, their faces somehow completely illuminated and free of shadow, oddly two-dimensional. Rukia, partially healed and making soft sounds of wakefulness.

Ishida-kun, still kneeling at her side.

Renji, climbing to his fight.

The three desert brothers, who, after a moment of stunned silence, promptly began making a racket.

Chad, standing tall and apart from the group, speaking now: "Where is Ichigo?"

----------

White all around him, Aizen Sousuke's heavy reitsu pervading every breath he took. A shout, breaking through, shattering the white blindness.

"I REJECT!"

and then an invisible hand grabs his arm, pulls him towards something, someone, he can barely tell that he's moving but then his captor stops – their reitsus – the brothers, Renji, Ishida, Orihime, Chad, _Rukia!_ – where are they? – and the lights come back on. Go back off. Whatever. The point is, Aizen is holding him by the forearm, focusing his reitsu on him so powerfully that he can barely breath.

---------

Orihime Inoue can be retrieved. She can be forced back into his service, but she will never again come willingly and never again will Soul Society be willing to completely believe her a traitor, though of course they will always have their doubts as to her loyalty.

Life, and especially war, is the Western game of chess and Aizen has lost his queen. It will be more difficult to keep her once she is taken again, but not even Soul Society will continue for long to throw warriors into a bottomless pit for one woman who's power they do not even understand. In the mean time, Orihime Inoue had served her secondary purpose: bait for the rook.

His frown slowly became a soft smile as he looked down at Kurosaki Ichigo. The young shinigami was struggling against the grasp he could not see, completely in vain. Aizen focused his reitsu on the boy with all of its tremendous force and Kurosaki froze, unable to struggle against both his grip and his spirit power. It took him nearly a full minute to faint.

----------

Orihime looked around in a panic. "Ku- Kurosaki-kun!?" Reitsus were oddly dulled in this place, maybe he was here somewhere, please let him be here somewhere.

Ishida put his hand on her shoulder and spoke softly. "Orihime-san, he's not here." She knew he was right.

Kuchiki-san gave another groan and pushed herself up onto her elbows. Her eyes grew wide. "Where the hell are we?!"

"Nowhere!" replied Pesshe Gatiishe, glad to be of help.

"What do you mean nowhere?!" yelled Dondo Chakka

"Well it's all black, isn't it? I think it's nowhere!"

The others tuned them out. Orihime looked around. Was she dead this time? Maybe soul society really had redecorated.

A hole opened in the blackness, revealing Urahara Kisuke. He did not look amused.

"All of you get back here. Right now.

----------

He was drowsy, and he was cold. Rather, his left side was cold and his right side was freezing. What was going on? He couldn't remember…

He cracked one eye, saw a white blur. Looked at his body, saw a flesh-colored blur. He was naked, lying on a cold stone floor. Ichigo came awake all at once.

"W- WHAT!?" He rushed to sit up and cover himself with his hands. The low chuckle from before – he remembered now, where were the others? – returned. Slowly, fearing what he would see, Ichigo turned his head towards the sound.

Aizen Sousuke sat before him on a white throne, looking down at him with his head in one hand and laughing softly. Ichigo's eyes widened with fear.

"Hello, Ichigo-kun."

"Don't talk to me like you know me!"

Aizen laughed again. "Ah, but I do. Wonderwyce, restrain him."

"Yup-yup-yup!" came a childlike voice from behind him.

_When did he –_

A pair of thin, surprisingly strong arms gripped him around the neck, choking him.

"Not like that, Wonderwyce!"

"Ohhh."

The hands shifted to just below his shoulders, pinning his arms to his sides and forcing him to struggle to keep covered.

"I have been waiting a long time for you, Kurosaki Ichigo," said Aizen, rising from his throne and walking slowly towards Ichigo, who had given up trying to cover himself in favor of struggling against the giggling arrancar holding him down.

Aizen knelt so that he was nearly on Ichigo's level and smiled gently at him. "Don't worry, Ichigo-kun. It will hurt, but you won't remember the pain." Then Kyouka Suigetsu was in Aizen's hand and it flashed through the air, opening a deep wound in Ichigo's stomach and sending a torrent of blood spilling onto the floor. Ichigo screamed. He couldn't help it: Aizen's reitsu was pushing on his mind, weakening the defenses that allowed him to ignore pain.

Aizen drew from his sleeve a small orb – the Hougyoku? – and with one swift motion plunged the hand holding it into Ichigo's stomach. Ichigo screamed again. Aizen withdrew his hand, leaving the orb in Ichigo's body.

Ichigo suddenly froze. The… _thing_ inside him was pulsing, throbbing. He groaned. The feeling wasn't exactly painful but it was totally alien in some indescribable way. And then, suddenly, it did hurt.

Ichigo whimpered.

"You may go, Wonderwyce," he heard Aizen say over the pounding in his head.

The arms holding him down disappeared. It didn't matter, he couldn't make himself move. Someone was poking his wound. He let out a pained noise.

"Wonderwyce! Stop that!" Whose voice was that? He should know, but his mind was getting slippery. But there was pain…

Gradually he forgot where he was, _who_ he was, even what he was. But he knew there was pain and he knew, dimly, that he was screaming.

Something inside him changed, slowly, agonizingly. Something else was merging. A mask formed over his face, cracked.

He forgot that he had not always been what he now was. He had long ago lost words.

He lost the meaning of time.

And then time came back, and words came back, but if he could have compared he would have said their meanings, or at least the feelings attached to them, had changed. He was "arrancar." "Master" was the man whose reitsu surrounded him, cradled him, protected him. "Shinigami" was enemy. Eventually, he passed out from the pain, and from the change.

------------

Aizen Sousuke stood from his throne and walked over to the limp form sprawled on the floor before him. He circled his new servant several times, then finally stopped, nodding in approval. He picked the vulnerable creature up and carried him in his arms to the throne, where he laid the child's head on his lap and began to stroke his hair. It would take him a few hours to wake, but when he did there would be nothing left of Kurosaki Ichigo.


	2. Chapter 2: Two Gatherings

Sorry this took so long! Major computer problems occurred.

_**Sintesis Gris**_

_Chapter Two: Two Gatherings_

_by Saber Girl Jaina/Hyperion Rising_

They all clambered through the hole in nothing, Ishida holding Orihime's hand, Chad carrying Rukia. A pair of hollows followed them, one with a mask that looked like a cross between a cow's skull and a scorpion's head and one with a tiki mask. Urahara ignored them for now, as he did the little arrancar that followed them.

The sounds of Ururu and Jinta chasing his three new projects around the great underground chamber echoed in the silence. Kuchiki-san wriggled out of Sado-san's arms and stood shakily, still leaning on him. He raised an eyebrow at her.

Kuchiki bowed shakily. "Urahara-san," she said. "How did you find us?"

"Oh, I've been tracking you since you left! Special kidou in the portal, you see. A better question would be 'where were we?'"

Kuchiki stared at him, perhaps put off by his flippant attitude.

"Where were we, Urahara-san?" Inoue-san asked obligingly.

"Nowhere!"

"I told you!" yelled one of the hollows to the other. They immediately started arguing with the arrancar attempting in vain to break up the fight. Urahara continued to ignore them.

"What do you mean by 'nowhere?'" asked Ishida.

"I'll explain that later," said Urahara, "and then we'll try to figure out how you got there in the first place. For now I need to know what happened to Ichigo."

Kuchiki grimaced. "He- he wasn't there when I woke up." Inoue broke out into tears.

Urahara sighed and sat down on a near by rock. The sounds of battle, or whatever you wanted to call it could still be heard, as could the voice of Yoruichi's cat form, shouting "encouragement."

Inoue, who had been sobbing into a rather stunned Ishida's chest, suddenly stopped crying and turned her head towards the noise, and the accompanying reiatsus.

"Is that Tatsuki-chan?"

It was at this point that a quickly approaching feline scream was heard. A moment later a low flying cat-shaped Shinigami-exile hit Ishida in the face, knocking him to the ground. Inoue seemed not to notice.

"Ah, yes," replied Urahara. "Our friend Kurosaki-san's powers seem to have rubbed off on a few more of his friends."

Arisawa-san herself appeared over a large bolder shouting something about already knowing how to fucking fight. She demonstrated her excellent footwork by proceeding to fall head-over-heels off the bolder in shock upon seeing Inoue-san.

"Ouch."

"Tatsuki-chan!" yelled Inoue running towards her. She engulfed Arisawa in her arms and began sobbing into her shoulder. "Tatsuki-chan, it was so horrible… they – they – and we lost Kurosaki-kun!"

"Ah, yes," said Urahara from behind them as Ishida finally got to his feet. "Would you mind explaining how you managed that?"

----------

The room with the mirror was _his_. He was to sleep and live in it. Master had given it to him. It contained a bed for sleeping on and a chair for sitting in. There was another little room for washing blood off after missions. Gris was curious about missions.

He tried the water. It was very cold. He felt, distantly, that that was unusual, but he couldn't imagine why. Why would he need warm water?

He stayed in his room for a few hours, just exploring all the new things. Everything was so _new_. There were so many surfaces to touch, so many new textures to feel. It was amazing. There were things to wear. He spent a while feeling and smelling those, then put them on: a white trench coat tight white loose white pants and a tight, sleeveless black shirt. Then he went back to exploring the rest of the room.

Eventually he ran out of new things, of little imperfections in the walls, to explore, so he ventured out of his room. It wasn't long before he found someone new.

The new person had part of a mask, like him. It covered the top of half of his black hair. He had green eyes and very pale skin and he wore black and white, just like Gris.

Gris didn't know how to deal with new people. He'd only known how to treat his master because knowing that was part of who he was.

He cocked his head to the side and stared at the new person, wondering what to do. The new one solved his problem by speaking.

"You are … Sintesis Gris?"

Gris nodded, wide eyed. This was the first voice other than his master's and his own that he had heard.

"I am Schiffer Ulquiorra. I was sent to bring you to Aizen-sama."

"To Master?" Gris asked. Was his master not this person's master? Why did he only call him "sama?"

The new person looked at him oddly. Pityingly? Why would he pity Gris?

Ulquiorra started walking away. Gris watched him blankly. After a few steps he turned around.

"Follow me," he said. Sintesis followed.

--------

"- and I saw Aizen grab something, maybe it was Kurosaki-kun, but then we were in the middle of the black place all of a sudden."

They were all sitting around a traditional low table, including Asano-san, Kojima-san, and the desert brothers, who had been cowed into silence by a well-placed threat from Tatsuki-chan. She was currently staring at them suspiciously.

"Well then," said Urahara-san, "the best we can hope for is that Kurosaki-san's soul has been completely annihilated.

"WHAT!?"

Orihime wasn't sure if anyone had actually said "WHAT!?", but that seemed to be the general sentiment. Nell-chan started bawling and Tatsuki slammed her fist into the table, causing it and Asano-san to jump, but it was Kuchiki-san's reaction that was most marked. She actually jumped up onto the table and grabbed Urahara by his collar.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN 'TOTALLY ANNIHILATED?! HOW THE HELL IS THAT 'THE BEST WE CAN HOPE FOR'?!"

"Ku- Kuchiki-san, please calm down. I you must consider the alternative!"

"And what exactly is that?" asked Uryuu as Orihime snaked her hand into his.

"That he is currently in Aizen's hands."

--------

Ulquiorra lead Sintesis Gris into a long white room with a long white table. His master was sitting at the end of the table opposite the door through which they entered. Upon seeing him, Gris broke in to a contented smile.

---------

"And if that is the case – "

---------

Master rose, and Gris's the other people at the table followed his actions. Aizen walked back to Gris, who immediately knelt, looking up at his master with adoring eyes.

---------

" – the Kurosaki Ichigo who we all know – "

---------

"Espada, this is Sintesis Gris. Your new leader." Slowly, he began to clap his hands.

The applause spread.

---------

" – is already worse than dead."


	3. Chapter 3: Pocky Before Dying

A/N: Sorry guys, no Ichigo this chapter. Instead there's pocky! Don't worry, he'll be back soon. Also, I'm looking for a beta comment/review if you're interested.

Chapter 3: Pocky Before Dying

Urahara had suggested they take a break, but everyone seemed reluctant to leave the room. The desert brothers were arguing quietly in a corner about making a break for it. Tatsuki was still staring at the suspiciously. Asano was staring at Rukia. This was the first time she'd broken her stereotypical high school girl act in front of him. Orihime was sitting silently, her head resiting on Ishida's shoulder. Kojima was sitting in another coner, sipping from a bottle of water. Renji, who was sulking in a generic sort of way, occupied a third corner. Rukia took the fourth, staring down at her hands in thought.

Suddenly, the door slid open with a bang, revealing Captain Hitsugaya and the rest of the Karakura Shinigami team. Hitsugaya wasted no time.

"What the hell were you thinking?" he bellowed. Rukia and Renji scrambled to their feet, followed shortly by Orihime. "You disobeyed a direct order, went into Hueco Mundo and - WHAT THE HELL ARE THOSE?!" He pointed violently towards the desert brothers.

"I'm Nell!" chirped Nell.

Hitsugaya blinked, apparently unsure of how to deal with this cheerful declaration.

There was a moment of total silence which Matsumoto broke by breaking into uproarious laughter. Asano let out a choked, slightly crazed giggle.

"You're - you're one of those arrancar Urahara-san was telling us about, aren't you?" he asked in a strained voice. Nell nodded happily. "Then why haven't you attacked us?!"

Nell blinked. "Why would I do that?"

"Wait a minute," said Hitsugaya thoughtfully. "Do you even need to eat human souls?"

Nell gave him an odd look. "Nooooo... they don't even taste good. That's why Nell took off her mask!?" She was grinning widely.

The sound of clapping resounded from behind the group of shinigami, who turned around and parted, revealing Urahara with a plastic bag hung over his shoulder.

"Bravo Hitsugaya-taichou! I had theorized such, but to actually find proof... Excellent! Let's celebrate! I brought pocky."

Rukia stood up slowly and with great deliberation brought her eyes to bear on Urahara . "What the hell is wrong with you?!" she yelled, a vein throbbing in her forehead. "Ichigo might be dead and you- you bring _snack food!_"

"Ah, Rukia-chan! I simply wish to enjoy my final hours! You have been wondering perhaps where Yoruichi-san has gotten to? You see, she has gone to fetch csomeone who will doubtlessly kill me for loosing Ichigo-san, so I think I might as well enjoy a little pocky before they get here and I meet my inevitable demise!"

Everyone stared at him. After a moment, Ishida spoke.

"If you're going to die soon," he said, adjusting his glasses, "perhaps you would be willing to explain what has happened i the past few hours."

Certainly," said Urahara, seating himself at the table. The others resumed their places, the new arrivals found somewhere to sit, and pocky was passed around. "Here is the sequence of events as vest I can reconstruct it. We shall begin with when our expeditionary force, having rescued the fair Orihime-san, converged on the injured Rukia. It was at this point that Aizen Sousuke, bankai active, arrived and put you all under his spell. Orihime-san, panicking, released her power without a thought other than to be somewhere Aizen was not and "rejected" the very fact of being in a place. Because she did not "reject" all of you, you came with her. Kurosaki-san, however, was in contact with Aizen, which apparently prevented him his being brought with you out of physical existence. Now, since Inoue-san had rejected the very notion of physical placement you all became nonexistant in a physical sense, but, since all this happened on a spiritual plane, your consciousnesses continued to exist and forced a familiar physical template of perception onto your experiences, allowing me to track your exit from physical existence and rescue you from an eternity of very boring pseudo-existence. With me so far?"

"Wha?" said Asano blankly.

"Vaguely," said Rukia.

"Of course," replied Ishida.

"Chad simply said "Yes."

Orihime brought them back to more pressing concerns: "But what about Kurosaki-kun?"

"Well, he was either completely deleted from existance, or Aizen has begun turning him into an arrancar by now."

"But Kurosaki-kun isn't a -"

"He's part Hollow," said Rukia dully, interrupting Orihime. She stared straight forward and ignoring the horrified looks her statement caused.

Urahara nodded sadly. "My fault, I'm afraid, at least as much as his. I tried to force him to either become a Hollow or unlock his shinigami powers. Inconvenient young man that he is, he did both."

Nell spoke up. "What's wrong with Ichi being an arrancar? He could come live with us!" All this was said whilst putting two sticks of pocky up her nose.

"There's no way Aizen would leave Ichigo's mind intact," Rukia said in a monotone. "He'd be far too dangerous. Knowing Aizen, he'll have found a way to do away with inconvenient things like Ichigo's memories and personality. That's what you meant by worse than dead, isn't it?"

"I'm afraid so."

Rukia stood abruptly and walked out of the room, a single tear making its way down her cheek.

------------

It was one in the morning and she had school tomorrow, but Kurosaki Karin couldn't sleep. Something was going on. She could feel it. Also, her father was having a conversation with a cat, which was odd even for Isshin. Staring out the bedroom window to the street below, she couldn't mistake his actions for anything else. The cat, it appeared, was even talking back. The way its mouth moved was completely un-feline. A couple minutes ago there had been yelling on her father's part and a deep voice had yelled back. She hadn't been able to tell what they were saying.

A year ago, she would have thought one or the other of them was insane, probably Isshin. A few weeks ago, she would have stormed out of the house to confront her father. Now, though, she waited for the two of them to leave and got dressed, careful to disturb neither Rukia's empty bed or the sleeping Yuzu. She left the room with equal caution and padded down the stairs to get her shoes, and her bike.

-------------

Rukia paced back and forth in the front room of the shouten.

Ichigo was gone. Either he was completely gone, annihilated mind and soul, or he had been changed beyond recognition. Aizen would have been thorough, were the second the case. There would be no chance of bringing back the Ichigo she knew.

He was gone.

The door to the shop slid open.

"Hello, Rukia-chan," said the infinitely tired, infinitely angry voice of Kurosaki Isshin. "Where's the bastard who lost my son?"


	4. Chapter 4: Revelations

Chapter 4: Revelations  
by HyperionRising/Saber Girl Jaina  
Beta'd by IluvsBakura

"I am become death, the shatterer of worlds."  
- J. Robert Oppenheimer

This was simply delicious. The boy who had once been the closest thing to a threat to his plans was kneeling at his side, wide eyes staring up at him full of awe and devotion. The conference had recommenced with Ulquiorra resuming his seat. "Gris" seemed to see no discrepancy between his rank and not having a chair of his own. He would have a seat in time, at Aizen's right hand, but for the moment the former captain chose to savor his once-enemy's submission. He reached out a hand and began stroking Gris's hair. The boy leaned into his touch, practically purring. Aizen smiled. 

Truly delicious.

-----

Isshin closed the door behind him.

"What are you doing here?" asked Rukia, thoroughly stunned.

"Oh, I'm here to kill Kisuke. Or possibly just maim him, seeing as he's an old friend. But probably kill him."

"Wait--wait a second. You know Urahara-san? How the hell do you know Urahara-san?!"

"Known him since my academy days."

Yoruichi entered the shouten in her cat form. 

"Kuchiki-san," she said, giving the feline equivalent of a polite bow. Rukia would normally have bowed back, but she was just a little stunned at the moment. 

"Which ... academy?"

"Shinigami Academy, of course!"

"... What the hell?"

Isshin sighed. "Look Rukia-chan, I don't really have time to get into the whole not actually being human thing right now. Places to go, former friends to kill, know what I mean?"

The door of the shouten slid open again, revealing a panting Kurosaki Karin.

"Ah!" exclaimed Isshin. "Karin-chan! Good, good, you can help me kill the bastard who lost your brother."

Karin stared at him in silence for a moment. "WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!"

Instantly, the sound of running feet was heard. Within a moment the rest of the group had arrived, the shinigami in spirit form, some with swords drawn. The desert brothers peeked out from behind the crowd.

"What's going on?" Hitsugaya asked. He was not one of those who had drawn his sword.

"Yoruichi-san," said Urahara sadly, "You could have taken a little longer. I haven't finished my pocky yet!"

"Goddamn your pocky!" said Isshin, suddenly completely serious. "I trusted you to keep my son safe and now he's either dead, beyond dead, or a slave to that bastard Aizen!"

"You know you're not going to kill him, Isshin-san. Everyone capable of fighting is one more barrier between your daughters and the arrancar," said Yoruichi.

"Leave me my dreams, Yoruichi-san," Isshin replied.

"What the hell is an arrancar?" asked Karin.

"I am!" shouted Nell, pouncing on Karin.

"Ah! Get it off!"

"Nell is not an it, Nell is a she!"

"I don't care what Nell is, get off of me!" Karin finally succeeded in removing Nell and flung her across the room. Nell rolled to a stop, giggling madly.

"Dad, what the hell do you mean by 'the whole not being human thing?'" Karin asked**slowly**, looking almost frightened.

"Daddy will explain after he's killed Urahara-san, Karin-chan."

"I'd appreciate an explanation as well," said Yumichika, fiddling with one of his feathers. "I was under the impression that you couldn't see spirits."

No one else seemed to have noticed this incongruity.

"Ah, very observant, shinigami-san! You see, in the course of my long life I have enjoyed many occupations, of which doctorizing is only the latest and quite possibly greatest. I have been, among other things, a poet, an extremely bad traveling performer, a sailor, a cat burglar, a teacher of the classics, and the captain of the fifth division of the shinigami!"

"You're lying," said Karin flatly

Isshin sighed. "Indeed I am, Karin-chan. Alas, I was never a cat burglar."

"How can you joke like that if you know what's happened to Ichigo?" asked Rukia disbelievingly.

He turned to her and said "To stop myself from really thinking about it."

Rukia bit her lip. She had lost a... friend. Isshin had lost his first child. She couldn't even imagine how that felt

Hitsugaya spoke up. "You do realize, sir, that I'm going to have to report the fact that you're alive to Yamamoto-soutaicho. The disappearence and possible desertion of Aizen's predecessor has been filed as a 'cold case' so to speak, but a significant one. They're going to want to know where you've been."

"I'll talk to Yamamoto-san myself, once I'm done with my business here."

"Uh, hello! Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on?!" interjected Karin angrily. She was obviously tired of being ignored.

"Kuchiki-san, would you be so kind as to explain to Karin-chan what's happened? Elsewhere, preferably," said Urahara. Rukia looked back and forth between Isshin and Urahara, then nodded.

"Come with me, Karin-chan."

"But-"

"Please, Karin."

Karin relented and followed Rukia out of the room.

"All of you, go with them," said Hitsugaya. Matsumoto nodded and lead the other shinigami out as well. Tatsuki herded Ichigo's friends after them. Yoruichi followed, hissing at the desert brothers to propel them before her.

-----

Rukia started her story with who she really was and how she'd met Ichigo, then went on to her return to Soul Society.

"He was just lying there, bleeding," she said, so lost in the memories that she didn't notice the sick look on Karin's face. "The doors closed and I- I didn't even look back. I couldn't let them see that I-" She swallowed. That she what? She didn't even know. "I was ready to die. He came for me, though, idiot that he was."

She went on to recount her perspective on the rescue, with a rather annoying running commentary from Renji. Inoue, Uryuu, and Chad all added their own perspectives. There were digressions to explain what a Quincy was and for Inoue to speculate as to how Shiba Kuukaku had lost her arm. The latter involved bears.

Then they went on to Aizen and the arrancar, and finally to Orihime's capture and the journey to Hueco Mundo. Orihime explained for the first time what had really happened the night of her capture. The desert brothers introduced themselves with great alacrity. Eventually they came to the end. Rukia looked down at her clenched hands.

"He was just... gone."

-----

"So, are you going to kill me or not?"

Isshin sighed. "No. Yoruichi's right. You're pretty much useless, but at least you can fight."

Urahara nodded, putting his pocky down on the sales counter. "I'm sorry, Isshin."

Isshin leaned against the wall and nodded. "I know, Kisuke, but that doesn't change what happened to Ichigo. It makes me sick, but I hope his soul was annihilated. The alternative is... terrible. For all of us."

"What do you mean?" said Hitsugaya. "Yes, Kurosaki-san was an incredible warrior, but, upsetting as it may be to hear this, he can be replaced."

Isshin shook his head again. "Oh no, Taichou-san. He was much more than that..."

-----

Gris was standing now, watching the other arrancar curiously as his master introduced them.

"And finally," he said, indicating an elderly looking arrancar, "this is Muerte Negro, head of the Exequias. All these are your subordinates Gris, but you must also listen to them. They have existed for longer than you, as arrancar and as hollows before that. If you are to lead them effectively you must consider what they say." Gris nodded furiously, eager to please his master. "Muerte will have a greater degree of independence as he is not part of the Espada chain of command, but he will still follow your orders. You are more than an Espada, Gris. You are nearly on a level with the others I brought with me from Soul Society."

Gris took a moment to process this. "Soul Society?"

Master smiled at him. "Soul Society is where the Shinigami come from." Gris nodded again. He wanted to show that he understood, that he could be a good servant.

"You will be leading them on a mission to the human world soon," said Master, and Gris grinned wider, almost too wide, "but first, you have much to learn."

Gris's smile remained, but there was something less manic about it. Training was good, but it didn't... excite him in the same way the thought of fighting did.

-----

Hitsugaya stared at Isshin and Urahara in horror. "Oh gods. We're so screwed."

-----

A/N: Which is almost ironic, considering they ARE the gods.

As you may have noticed, I now have things-I-can-never-remember-the-name-for-that-go-above-the-main-chapter. Anyone happen to know what they're called? Anyway, can't be sure I can edit this on without loosing reviews, and reviews equals not only valuable concrit but advertising. Check my livejournal for the things-I-can-never-remember-the-name-for-that-go-above-the-main-chapter for previous chapters (haven't done them all yet. Coming up with these isn't easy.)

Sorry about the lack of Ichigo. Well, not really sorry. I'm not going to just stick him where he didn't fit, and he didn't fit in this chapter too much. More of him next chapter. A lot more. Also, I finally got around to catching up on the manga, and discovered that this is now AU! Oh well. I'll be sure to incorporate canon elements that work well with the story as they come up.

Above all, thanks to IluvsBakura for the beta!

/tmp/uploads/697674.docAdministrator11/2/2007


	5. Chapter 5: Before the Storm

**Chapter 5: Before the Storm**

_ "Outside in the cold distance,  
A wildcat did growl"  
- "All Along the Watchtower"_

"Again!"

Karin growled at Rukia as she returned to her stance.

"Ye Lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, March on to the south! Way of destruction 31, shot of red fire!"

Rukia dodged her kidou blast once more, but just barely.

"Good! You're getting the hang of this!" Applause sounded from the ridge behind Karin.

"Good job, onee-chan!" called Yuzu, clapping enthusiastically. Jinta was clapping as well, probably trying to impress Yuzu. Ururu applauded politely.

Kurosaki Karin wiped the sweat off her brow. This was a lot harder than Rukia made it look.

Karin hadn't cried since that first night, but it had been hard. She felt sort of... numb. She couldn't - didn't want to - believe her brother was gone She couldn't believe she finally had confirmation of what he was, and he was gone. Rukia had started teaching her kidou, she suspected, to distract both of them. She'd even roped Yuzu into a few lessons, though Karin's younger sister seemed to be dealing more effectively, or at least more quietly, than she was herself. Yuzu was burying herself in taking care of the rest of them ("the rest of them" being Ichigo's friends, the other shinigami, the shouten's usual denizens, and Karin, the sisters having taken up residence in the little shop while their father visited Soul Society).

"Karin, again! You've got the concept down, but we're going to keep doing this until you can hit me. I'm not even using shunpo!"

Karin sighed. Practice makes perfect.

-----

He had a sword now, and his sword had a name: _Sagetsu_ Master taught him his sword's name, and Grimmjaw and Ulquiorra taught him to fight. It puzzled him how easily he learned. Everything else he did seemed new and confusing, but not swordplay. That came to him as if he'd always known it. In a way, it made sense. Master had made him to fight.

When he wasn't practicing with Sagetsu, he learned tactics from Tousen-sama. This skill didn't come to him as naturally as fighting, but he learned quickly once he managed to grasp the basics.

About a week after he was created, his master came to him and told him that it was time to visit the living world.

-----

Dinner at the Urahara Shouten was an interesting affair. Yuzu and Tessai cooked, with Jinta "helping" - apparently a new development since the Kurosaki sisters had moved in. It was always delicious, despite Jinta's interference. A fight would inevitably break out about half way through, usually involving Ikkaku and Renji. Karin, Rukia, and Hitsugaya or some combination thereof would break up the fight while the others watched on in amusement.

Dinner the seventh night since Ichigo's disappearance was simple: rice and miso soup. Everyone seemed exhausted from training, and there was a strange feeling in the air. Yoruichi, who generally appeared at dinner in her cat form, had transformedfor dinner that night, and Keigo had apparently deemed it prudent to bring his new weapon - an over sized pole arm of some sort - to the table with him. Nell barely even played with her food, and Orihime made no comments about how ketchup would improve the soup. Somehow, they all knew something was coming, even if they didn't realize it.

-----

There was no real objective to his mission other than to cause general disorder and to test his abilities. It would be Gris's first time leading the Espada in battle and his first chance to really prove himself to Master. He was eager - so very eager. Eager to please Master. Eager for blood.

------

Rukia put her chopsticks down with a resounding click.

"What if he wasn't annihilated?"

Renji glared at her from across the table. "What do you mean?"

Rukia allowed her self to fall backwards so that her back was resting against the wood paneled wall. "We've all been assuming Ichigo's soul was destroyed. We're too afraid of the other possibility to even consider it, either because we don't want to consider what kind of power someone like Ichigo would put in Aizen's hands or for more... personal reasons. We have to stop that."

Hitsugaya nodded. "You're right. I've been thinking about it for a while, but voicing the possibility seemed... wrong."

"Guys, don't be ridiculous!" said Keigo loudly, breaking the solemn atmosphere with enormous skill. "There's no way that Ichigo would turn on us. That guy has a sense of honor out of, like, the Meiji period!"

"Keigo, the Meiji period was when they were transitioning out of the feudal system."

"Uh, I knew that. I meant the, uh, Neolithic Period." Tatsuki face-palmed. The shinigami just looked confused.

"The point is," said Rukia, regaining control of the conversation, "that we have to consider the possibility that we'll be facing Ichigo - or what was Ichigo - in battle."

-----

The Espada stood before the portal, waiting for it to open. Gris, at the head of the procession, turned to face them. He said nothing, simply giving his troops the manic grin that they had, in the time he had been anticipating the mission, begun to associate with his battle-lust. He licked his lips as most of the Espada returned his smile. Ulquiorra, Grimmjaw, and Noitora did not, and he took careful note of this, wondering why they always reacted to him differently than his other subordinates.

The portal opened behind Gris, momentarily blasting him with a light that threw his features into sharp relief and the featureless-ness of his mask into sharp contrast. He turned back to the portal and, drawing Sagetsu, stepped through.

-----

Yumichika was speaking. "Well of course there's no way of knowing what the odds of one possibility or the other is, but what really matters is -"

He was interrupted by a sharp gasp from Rukia.

A word escaped her barely parted lips: "No..."

-----

It was dark in the human world, but there were little lights both above and below, and the pinpricks of human spirit pressure shone dimly in his mind, as did a cloud of greater power, not far off. He pointed towards it.

"There."

He moved, and the other Espada followed.

-----

Rukia to the front of the Shouten, begging, praying that she was wrong. She opened threw open the door. Ten Espada, led by a familiar masked figure in white who grinned down at her with bloodlust in his - its - eyes.

A thundering of footsteps from behind her. Gasps and Yuzu's choked sob. Karin yelling for her sister to get back inside.

"Ichigo..."

-----

Sagetsu: Chained moon. I'm not sure that's how it would be pronounced, but I think I've got the right kanji.

Many thanks to IluvsBakura for the beta!

May the Force be with you and remember, "do or do not, there is no spoon."

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	6. Chapter 6: Attack

**  
Chapter 6: Attack  
**  
"Two riders were approaching,  
And the wind began to howl."  
-"All Along the Watchtower"

Gris charged at the small woman before him, eager for blood. So easy, easy, easy. So much _fun_! His sword ripped through her body, spraying blood onto the wall of the little shop behind her, but something wasn't right. Her soul hadn't been in her body. Where was-

He let out a yell as he felt a blade stab at him from behind, though it didn't puncture his reinforced skin. He whirled around and swung wildly at the little woman, but she was fast, so _fast_, and she dodged. Gris glared at her, hissing.

Around them the other Espada fought. A little boy with white hair had called a dragon out of his sword and was attacking Noitora, a man with a funny shiny head faced off against Le Roux, a human with a bow and a human with arms that weren't human stood back to back, holding off Szayel Apollo and Halibel, a man in a striped hat was slashing at Aaroniero, and a lady with purple hair was facing off with Grimmjow, grinning. All around him, shinigami and their allies - what should he call these funny people with their high reiatsu? - and arrancar were pairing off, but he was entirely focused on the little shinigami with purple eyes.

There were others here, more powerful perhaps, but the little woman had made Gris angry, and he wanted to kill her first.

-

"Karin, was that...?" Yuzu turned to her sister with tears in her eyes and fear in her face. They were crouching beside the door to the shouten along with Ichigo's less experienced friends, listening to the sounds of battle outside.

"Yeah," said Karin dully. "It was."

-

"Ichigo," Rukia whispered, barely aware that she was speaking aloud, "what did Aizen do to you?"

The creature in front of her - she couldn't think of it as Ichigo, wouldn't let herself think of it as Ichigo, but _gods_, it had his _eyes_, only then the creature blinked at her and she realized that no, those weren't Ichigo's eyes. They might have the color, the form of Ichigo's eyes, but they were utterly alien to everything Ichigo was - no, had been. There was something open and innocent in those eyes, something childlike, though it was overlayed with bloodlust and hatred. Ichigo had never been as open as this creature was. Something in Rukia was afraid, something was in awe, and something was, though she couldn't say why, aroused.

"Who are you?" the words slipped out of her mouth before the thought was even fully formed.

-

The little woman was talking, but Gris ignored her, diving at her again with Sagetsu in hand. The slim blade sang through the air, the loops of thin chain that hung from the hand guard and wrapped around his hand clinked loudly.

She dodged again. This little woman was _fast_. He readied himself to mount another attack.

"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!" The little shinigami released her sword, and it turned pure white, a ribbon flowing from the pommel.

He froze.

"Pretty..." said Gris, staring at the sword. Where had he seen it before? Why was the sword so familiar? It's wielder he had never seen before, but the sword...

The little woman was staring at him. Was she shocked that he had spoken? He should take advantage of that. Gris dove at the shinigami, Sagetsu ready to cut.

"First dance, tsukishiro!"

A circle of white formed beneath him and he dodged back just as a column of light shot up from the circle. It was pretty, too. So many new things.

Gris turned back to the little shinigami.

-

It was _smiling _at her. Not a predetory smile, not a hungry smile, but one she would almost label as grateful. What _was_ this thing? What the hell had Aizen done to Ichigo?

-

"That's it!" said Karin, exploding to a standing position. "I can't take this anymore!"

"Karin, what are you - ?"

"Yuzu, get further inside," said Karin, rolling up her sleeves.

Tatsuki made a grab for her but she dodged, swinging through the door and into the street.

"Karin, don't!"

Yuzu tried to follow and Tatsuki was found herself fully occupied with keeping the youngest Kurosaki from following her sister.

"Just get away, Yuzu!" yelled Karin, and then she was dead to the world, concentrating every fiber of her being on the incantation Rukia had taught her.

"Ye Lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, March on to the south! Way of destruction thirty-one, shot of red fire!"

A ball of red rocketed towards the Ichigo-thing, hitting it in the side of the head and causing it to stumble. The thing's eyes snapped towards Karin and it charged at her, growling deep in its throat.

Kurosaki Karin knew at that moment that her brother was dead, and that she was about to join him.

Then Rukia was in front of her, sword raised, meeting the Ichigo-thing's blow and stumbling back under its power.

"Karin, run!"

She wasn't going to run. She was going to kill this thing that had devoured her brother and spit on its body. Karin repeated the incantation. Another ball of fire impacted on the thing's shoulder and it staggered again.

"Bitch," it growled , slamming Rukia into the side of an adjacent building and advancing on her. Karin took up her stance, ready to fire once more, and then again and again until this thing was _dead_.

The Ichigo-thing paused, its eyes clouding over. It seemed to be listening to something in the distance. It whirled around towards its fellows.

"Master says its time to go home," it called out, sounding both disappointed and somehow eager.

Karin was halfway through her incantation when the arrancar disappeared.

---

Hey guys. Sorry this took so long. My most excellent beta, ILuvsBakura, had finals. We all know how evil those are. Also, I've got a new Bleach AU mystery up called "This Ain't My Revolution." Check it out and please review. I haven't been getting a very good response to it. Could someone tell me what I'm doing wrong?


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